Lonan hopped into one of the carts pulled by the ghastly thestrals and leaned back. He usually liked to ponder how people would react if they could see the thestrals that pulled the carts. He remembered his first time seeing them as he stepped off the train for his second year. He refused to go near the carts until his brother explained to him that they only looked scary. He wondered why no one else was afraid of the creatures until he learned that not everyone could see them. Lonan wondered what had made him so lucky, but when he asked his parents about why he could see them, well, he had actually asked them who he watched die, they deflected his question, quickly changing the subject to his brother passing all his NEWTs with flying colors. He had let it go after that.

He leaned back into the empty cart he had nabbed and put his feet up on the seat across from him until someone kicked him in the knee.

“You son of a--” Lonan started before he opened his eyes and saw it was Zelda, looking down on him. 

“You were saying?” she asked, putting a hand on her hip.

“Nothing,” Lonan said, pulling his feet down.

He liked Nicholas and ( ), but he always got a strange vibe from them. They were too concerned with status and power, and all Lonan really wanted was to find the perfect balance between having as much fun as possible and not getting expelled.

Hector lumbered up behind Zelda and Hector's girlfriend, whatever the hell her name was, climbed in after him.

“What'd you do all summer?” Zelda asked, not knowing any better.

“I practiced.”

“And?”

“Practiced some more.”

“...Wow.”

They made small talk about what they did during the summer as they were pulled towards the castle, with Lonan interrupting everyone else just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating someone walking up to the castle alone.

“It's Lovegood. What do you expect?” Hector asked him.

“Fair enough,” Lonan said with a shrug.